Small Scales

Feature Article from Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car

If this doesn't look exactly like the 1969 Bug that you, or your neighbor, or your parents used to own, that's because Minichamps has apparently chosen to reproduce the European version of the car. We didn't get those delicate blade bumpers in the U.S. in 1969, for instance, and our dashboards were coated in luxurious plastic, not paint. This model's best features are on the exterior--the brightwork around the windows is delicately done, for instance, and the fender welting is neatly applied. The shape is dead-on perfect, and the paint on ours was flawless. The doors, trunk lid and engine lid all swing open, revealing a modest amount of detail. The mounting posts for the headlamps and taillamps are visible through the lenses, a small distraction.
1987 Aston Martin V8 Vantage/Volante
Minichamps
1/43 scale
$47.95 eachwww.diecasm.com****
It's not that often that we're able to bring you a two-fer, but we couldn't pass up this opportunity to show you these two beauties from Minichamps. Let's start with the Vantage coupe. Overall, the shape is beautifully and crisply defined, particularly around the distinctive side windows. The Cumberland Gray paint on our sample was glossy, though we were disappointed by some blemishes in the hood and roof. The interior is nicely done, by 1/43 standards, with legible dials on the dashboard, and the front is dressed up with fog lamps and a badge bar. What goes for the coupe goes for the Cannock Black Volante, too. Again, we found some blemishes in the paint, this time in the quarter panels. That said, these are two very appealing models, well worth the shelf space.

This article originally appeared in the November, 2010 issue of Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car.